Four Noes and One Without
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Current revision
The Four Noes and One Without (Chinese: 四不一沒有; pinyin: sì bù, yī méiyǒu) is a pledge by President of the Republic of China Chen Shui-bian made in his inauguration speech on 20 May 2000 concerning the political status of Taiwan. It has been an important part of cross-straits relations.
Provided that the People's Republic of China does not use military force to attack Taiwan, Chen's administration promises not to do the following things (the "Four Noes"):
- declare Taiwanese independence,
- change the national title from "the Republic of China" to "the Republic of Taiwan",
- include the doctrine of special state-to-state relations in the Constitution of the Republic of China, or
- promote a referendum on unification or independence.
In addition, the "One Without" was that Chen pledged not to abolish the National Unification Council or the National Unification guidelines though during his administration the National Unification Council has not met once. On February 27, 2006, the Council was abolished.
The Four Noes and One Without have become an important part of ROC-U.S. relations. Several times, Chen has had to reassure the United States that the Four Noes and One Without policy has not been abolished and that he is not attempting to circumvent the pledge via some of the loopholes that have been suggested. The phrase that the United States used with regard is that the United States "appreciates Chen's pledge and takes it very seriously."
Policy revision
On 27 Feb 2006, Chen dismantled the National Unification Council saying it "will cease functioning and the budget no longer be appropriated", effectively breaking the promises made in 2000. In the week prior, he told U.S. Congressman Rob Simmons (R-CT) that the Council and Guidelines were "absurd products of an absurd era." [1] Chen has revealed he planned to draft a new constitution, which many conjectured would be pro-separatist, before he stepped down in 2008.
Criticism
Koo Kwang-ming and other pro-independence leaders openly criticized that Chen, as president, is "not constitutionally authorized" and has "no legal power" to confine Taiwanese political future and freedom with the pledge. In addition, some of Chen's supporters such as Vice-President Annette Lu have suggested that the pledge may have loopholes such as the definition of military force. Furthermore, while the pledge stated that Chen would not support a referendum, some have suggested that it does not exclude the possibility of a referendum occurring by citizen initiative. The possibility of loopholes has occasionally led to considerable unease in Beijing and in Washington DC.
Under strong objection from pro-independence leaders and his supporters, who threatened to walk out the inauguration ceremony immediately once the pledge was recited, Chen did not explicitly repeat this pledge in his 2004 inauguration speech after his re-election though he alluded to the pledge by stating that the assurances he had given in the 2000 inaugural address remained in effect, and he has stated many times that the pledge remains in effect.